Hydraulic massage apparatus



2 filleets sheet 1.

(N0 Model.)

W. S. BLUNT. HYDRAULIC MASSAGE APPARATUS.

No. 511,008. Patented Ben. 19, 1893.

OYVITNESSESI MMA O (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. S. BLUNT. HYDRAULIC MASSAGE APPARATUS.

No. 511,008 Patented Dec. 19, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

YVILLIAH S. BLUNT, OF UPPER MONTGLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

HYDRAU LlC MASSAG E APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 511,008, dated December 19, 1893.

Application filed October 29, 1892- Sorial No. 450,402. (No model.)

Rubbing and Massage Apparatuses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatuses of the class where jets of liquid under pressure are driven forcibly against or toward the article, thing, or person being treated, with the view of rubbing, washing, or kneading the surface.

The present invention, while adapted without material modification for various uses, is designed in the main for efiecting a sort of hydraulic massage on the surface of a person under treatment, and in the accompanying drawings I have shown the invention embodied in an apparatus especially designed for such treatment.

In the drawings--Figure 1 is a vertical, axial section of the apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a planof the same.

So faras the method of the treatment is concerned, it consists essentially in directing towardthebody under treatment,while the latter is immersed in or surrounded by an embracing stratum of liquid, jets of liquid under considerable pressure or tension, the liquid from the jets being compelled to pass through the said embracing stratumbefore reaching the surface of the body. 'lheeitect of this will be to rub and knead the superficial muscles ing on the diameter of the tub. Surrounding him, and arranged in zones at difierent lev-' els, are perforated jet pipes, preferably of hoop-like form, and these are each connected independently with an upright stand pipe, into which the liquid is forced by a force pump or other liquid forcing device or mechanism. The liquid passes from the stand pipe into such of the perforated jet pipes as it may be desired to use, one or all, and is emitted in strong jets directed at the body of the person treated through the embracing wall or envelope of liquid about him. The pump takes the liquid from the bottom or lower part of the tub or receptacle and delivers it again into the same through the jet pipes,

thus using the same liquid over and over as long as may be desired, by a circulatory process, and at the same time producing a downward flow or current in the receptacle about the body and across the paths of the jets. The receptacle or tub is provided with an adj ustable platform to supportthe person being treated, and means are provided for emptying, draining and fiushin g the apparatus after use and for filling the receptacle primarily to the proper level. Means are also provided for supplying hot and cold liquids so as to maintain or vary the temperature of the liquid being used, and also for ascertaining at any time the temperature and pressure of the liquid inthe pipes.

As represented in the drawings, the apparatus comprises an upright tub or receptacle, a, which may be of sheet metal and provided with a cast metal bottom, a Within this tub are arranged, at di fiterent levels, ring-like, perforated jet-pipes, Z1, each of which is connected through the wall of the tub with an upright stand pipe, 0. Valves, d, of some suitable kind are provided for cutting oif one or more of the jet pipes from the stand pipe without in any way interfering with the others. The tub may be filled, primarily, from cocks, 6, similar to those of the ordinary bath tub and adapted to furnish hot and cold water. Within the tub is a platforimg, for the person to stand on while being treated, and this platform may be mounted on a rod, which plays through a stuffing box or packed gland The liquid is taken by the pump from the bottom or lower part of the tub a, through the suction pipe, 2', and delivered to the stand pipe 0 by a pipej.

A pressure gage, 7c, and thermometer, on, will be employed to determine the pressure of the liquid in the pipe j, and its temperature. Hot and cold water may be supplied to the suction pipe by the respective pipes n and 1',

.and the water may be drawn from the tub by a cock 4". V

The waste liquid from the tub, after the treatment of a patient, may be drawn away at the cock 0", or it may be drawn out by the pump and forced away to the sewer or other point, by a pipe 3. The cock 6 may be a two Way cock, arranged to direct the flow from the pump either through the pipe j, or the pipe s, as desired.

The pressure gage, the thermometer, and the various controlling cocks should, for convenience, be within easy reach of the attendant so that he may observe the temperature and pressure and be in position to control them promptly; but I have not deemed. it necessary to show them herein grouped in one place, as it is within the province of any skilled mechanic to place them wherever clesired.

I have described my apparatus as constructed for use in efiecting hydraulic massage where the body is to be immersed or partly immersed; but it might be used without immersing the body, the jets in that case impinging directly upon the body. It will be obvious that by reason of the facilities for operating the apparatus with the tub a. filled to any desired depth, and fol-cutting off any one or more of the jet pipes from the stand pipe, the apparatus may be used in various ways.

The jets, or rather jet apertures, may be of any desired form, but I prefer the circular form. Some of the jets may be inclined upward, some inclined downward, and others be horizontal; or all may be either way.

I have shown the apparatus so constructed as to direct a ring of jets radially inward upon a person standing in the center of the tub, and so as to impinge upon him from all sides simultaneously, and I prefer this form; butI do not limit myself to this particular arrangement as good results may be attained from jets coming only from one side, the body being turned around in order to receive them. Other variations will also suggest themselves, as the use of a tub or receptacle of some other than cylindrical form, or one adapted for applying the massage to a person in a seated or even reclining position; but these are only immaterial departures from the apparatus shown herein.

My apparatus may, as before stated, be utilized for other purposes than the treatment of persons; as for certain kinds of cleansing and scouring, for example. The liquid used may be water, or medicated water, or water mixed with other liquids or substances. Indeed any liquid may be circulated through the apparatus, the kind of liquid, as well as its temperature, and the kind of materials, if any, that are mixed therewith, depending on the uses to which the apparatus is put.

For hydraulic massage I prefer to leave the tub or receptacle a uncovered, but for other uses a cover may be desirable.

For simplicity and convenience I prefer to employ a single pump or other mechanism for effecting the circulation of the liquid, but the latter may be removed from the tub by one mechanism, which thereby produces a downward current around the immersed body transversely of the jets, and another mechanism may be nsed for supplying the liquid to the jet pipe or pipes under pressure. I also contemplate using jets having far more energy or force than can be obtained from the mains of cities.

In the drawings the pump is indicated somewhat diagrammatically and without any at tempt to proportion it to the size of the other apparatus. If a pump be employed for effecting the circulation, its size will depend on the quantity of liquid to be forced.

I am wellaware that in some old forms of shower baths it is common to employ a pumpin gapparatus,worked by the feet of the bather, to elevate the water in the tub below to the sprinklers above, and that some of these shower baths have had jet pipes arranged at different levels. These are old and well known devices and I make no claim to them. My apparatus is in no sense a shower bath, nor is it primarily designed for merely directing jets of water against the body through the atmosphere. The object is to knead the muscles by means of solid submerged jets of considerable size and under a considerable pressure acting upon a submerged body. As the amount of liquid forced through the jets is far greater than would be used in any ordi nary shower bath, it would not be feasible to rely on the ordinary house waste pipe to carry it away. I use the liquid over and over as long as desired and employ a liquid-forcing and exhausting mechanism exterior to the tub or receptacle.

Having thus described my invention, I

1. The combination with a tub to contain a liquid for immersing the body or some part thereof, of a series of jet-pipes arranged within said tub at dilferent levels, a liquid forcing and exhausting mechanism, exterior to said tub, connected on its receiving side with the bottom or lower part of the tub and on its delivery side with the, said jet-pipes, substantiallyas described, whereby solid, submerged jets of liquid, under considerable pressure, may be directed against the body through the liquid which surrounds the same, as set forth.

2. The combination with a tub or receptacle containing liquid, and a jet-pipe with jet ap- ICC ertures submerged in the liquid in said tub, of a-liquid circulating and forcing mechanism exterior to the tub, connected on its receiving side with said tub at or near its bottom and on its delivery side with the said jet pipe, whereby submerged jets of liquid may be de livered with energy through the surrounding wall of liquid on a body immersed in the tub, as set forth.

3. The combination with an upright tub or receptacle? a, containing liquid, and a series of ring-like jet pipes arranged in the said tub and submerged in the liquid therein, said pipes being arranged to deliver jets inward toward the axis of the tub, means exterior to the tub for creating a downward current or flow of liquid in the tub by removing the liquid at the bottom as fast as it is supplied from the jet pipes, and means for forcing liquid into the said tub through the submerged jet pipes, substantially as set forth.

4. The method of applying a submerged jet of a liquid under pressure to the surface of an object immersed in aliquid, which consists in directing the jet toward the object through the interposed liquid cushion surrounding the same and causing the jet to impinge on the object, as set forth.

5. The herein described method of effecting hydraulic massage, which consists essentially in forcing submerged jets of liquid at or against a body immersed in a liquid which latteris interposed as a mobile wallor stratum between the jet outlet and the body.

6. The herein described method of effecting hydraulic massage,which consists in forcing submerged jets of liquid at or against a body immersed in a liquid interposed as a mobile cushion between the jet outlet and the body, and simultaneously producing in the immersing liquid a current in excess of gravity, transversely of the path of the jets.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 1

WILLIAM S. BLUNT.

Witnesses:

JOHN HART, J12, CHARLES L. HEEPFELD. 

